BETTER-OFF: MESSED UP PSYCHES?

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Why have we spent the time to explore the idea of Economics of the Interior? Because everything ultimately boils down to the individual and what makes him or her tick. What ultimately guides and drives the heart and head of the individual eventually influences the family. Ultimately, the family determines the traditions of a given culture. Institutions are built to guarantee that the traditions will be carried forward in the future.

The economic and cultural model approved and adopted by the individual is absolutely and entirely important because it eventually becomes the model that determines the behaviors, values, and attitudes of the nation.

The Interior model adopted by the individual participants of the 1776 experiment became the guiding cultural and economic model of the new American nation. Goodness went into the model, and multiplied goodness came out of the model as a result.

The American people have been blessed because they believed in, and staked their lives on, the principles of goodness, personal integrity, responsibility, and generosity, both at home and abroad. Many observers throughout the world do not understand this fact, and have mistakenly believed that America just happened to land in a geographical area where all good fortune just happens to come naturally together. It was all just luck, and the Americans happened to be at the right place in history.

I want to share with you one more story. In 2008, I was nominated and appointed by the U.S Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of State to represent our country in a week-long international strategic planning conference regarding the continent of Africa. There were ten international leaders at the desks, and we were flanked by another thirteen experts available to us with specialties in African culture, politics, and health issues.

Over the course of the week I had become pretty well acquainted with the other conference participants. One gentleman lived in Zurich, Switzerland, and was married to a French lady. He was the head of a very well known international foundation, primarily funded by American money (even though some of it was directed through the U.N. or World Bank). He was a very bright and articulate fellow, and I had enjoyed immensely getting to know him.

On the fourth day of meetings, we were discussing the role that America has played over the years in aid and assistance to individual countries of Africa. My Swiss friend was responding to the discussion with a mini-speech that made my jaw drop to my tie.

“America is just going to have to learn to adjust to living with ten dollar a gallon gasoline prices and higher and higher prices for everything. They all have it too good!

“America ended up with all the wealth, and the rest of the world ended up in poverty. They must now divide their wealth with the rest of the world, or the disparity and inequality will get worse.

“We must realize that those of us involved in humanitarian work have a product to sell. We come up with programs and projects to sell to the American people. They are so rich and so spoiled and so guilty of opulence that it is absolutely mandatory that they have ways of purging that guilt in order to make them feel better. Their psyches are so screwed up that they will pay a high price to get rid of the guilt for their opulence by championing causes of humanitarian relief in other places like Africa. We have been given the job to help the Americans feel better about themselves and their greed.”

As I listened to my new friend, I experienced mixed emotions. He made me angry. By the time he finished, I was sad. Next week I will tell you why I was angry and sad.

Next Week: Dividends of Freedom
 

(Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

  

www.jameswjackson.com 

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

BETTER OFF: BENEVOLENCE

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

It was previously stated that America’s 1776 experiment resulted in generating more production, more industry, and more wealth than any other cultural and economic phenomenon in the history of the earth. America has also generated more benevolence and humanitarian aid to the rest of the world than any other cultural and economic experiment in history.

A review of the economic and cultural story of America reveals that it is not only fascinating, but it is a one-of-a-kind story. A lot of textbooks completely leave out the uniqueness of the God-fearing aspects of the early incorporators. Without their respect and inclusion of what we have just been calling the Economics of the Interior, the grand experiment of 1776 would have turned out very differently. But nothing could be more important to the understanding of the 1776 experiment’s uniqueness than an investigation of the Economics of the Interior as it fits into the sequence and scope of the cultural economics of America.

The Americans developed and adopted a philosophy based on the rule of law and the adherence to the Bill of Rights. They were a grateful lot and often spoke of God’s kindness and generosity and thanked him for his blessings. They honored and supported their neighbors and respected those rights of individual and personal property. When their neighbors were in need, they would gather around to protect them or even help them plow a field or erect a barn.

They experienced the freedom to pursue their own individual self-interests, but never confused that freedom with the license to become greedy or given over to destructive selfishness. Through the years they discovered as individuals and as a culture that the more they generously gave out to help their neighbors become better-off, the more they all individually became better-off. Their personal qualities of morality, honesty, industriousness, and their religious faith worked to bond them into a functioning and successful community, and gave them the necessary strength to overcome the hardships and uncertainties of a new nation.

Those cultural and economic traits became the ethos and identity of America. The country became a nation of people who loved, who cared, and who reached out to help others become better-off. And, as we learned in the section on Economics of the Interior, when you practice those characteristics of goodness and transfer them into the lives of others, then goodness is multiplied and returned to you as a result. That truth applies to individuals and that truth applies to a nation.

America became strong, healthy, and capable. Its wealth was not just in financial strength but in character of the citizens, and favor in the sight of other nations. As we learned earlier, the wealth of a nation is measured by production. Production results in income. The ability to generate income through individual production determines the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. GDP is recognized as a measure of wealth. No other country has produced like America. But neither has any other country in the history of mankind been as generous as America. If there were to be such a thing as gross national generosity (GNG) America would be champion there as well.

This year the United States government will give out of our nation’s wealth nearly fifty billion dollars in aid and assistance to other less fortunate countries. That is a lot of money from our production and earnings. It is unprecedented. No other country in history even comes close to that amount.

But in addition to what our government gives to the needs of others around the world, our private sources, like Project C.U.R.E., church denominations, private and public foundations, corporations, and individuals give another whopping seventy billion dollars in charity and aid to other countries.

What would this old world look like were it not for the kindness and concern of America? What would have been the recorded history for the past nearly two hundred-fifty years had the 1776 experimenters not included into the cultural and economic design of the nation the Economics of the Interior that included and encouraged these generous philosophical distinctives?

God Has Given, God is Looking for a People, God’s Economic System is not Based on Greed, God Always Repays when you Give . . . but You don’t Give to Get, God’s Multiplication begins with Your Subtraction, Success in God’s Economic System will Cost You Everything You Value More than God.

Next Week: Messed up Psyches?

         (Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics)

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

  

www.drjameswjackson.com

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

BETTER-OFF: BELIEFS BECOME NATIONS

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Personal belief systems matter. National belief systems matter. Personal belief systems grow and morph into cultural and economic systems. Traditions grow into policies and laws. Laws and policies require institutions to see to it that the systems function and move in perpetuity. Perpetuity is brought to a halt only when another set of personal beliefs grows and overrides the existing system of culture and economics.

That is why we have spent considerable time investigating the almost unbelievable potency of the economics of the interior. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As a nation believes, so it becomes. Beliefs are important. Beliefs become nations.

The unlikely experiment of 1776, that began in Philadelphia at Independence Hall, really began at Runnymede, England, in 1215 with King John’s signing of the Magna Carta. But it all started as a personal belief system in the hearts and minds of a small group of people. I have personally stood there at Runnymede, along the river outside of London, where the signing took place eight hundred years ago. I have tried to imagine what this world would be like today had it not been for those two extraordinary events that took place, one at Runnymede and the other at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. But behind those unique events there existed a dedicated system of personal beliefs in the hearts of a handful of stalwart dreamers.

If your goal were to change a nation, your mission would be to first change the economics of the interior of a certain percentage of the citizens of that nation. If successful, you could eventually take control of that nation from the inside out; from the interior. The supreme advantage to your method would be that by your not electing to blow up everything by military force, you would not damage the infrastructure, treasuries, or production capabilities of the nation. You would simply inherit the new control position by sabotaging and altering the personal and national belief systems.

The participants of the 1776 experiment in America were amazingly unified in their economics of the interior. Their personal and national belief systems included the rule of law, personal and real property rights, constitutional liberty, and the individual right to pursue their own self- interests. They also relied on a justice system of jury trials, including habeas corpus, taxation measures imposed only if the citizens approved such by their own vote, fair elections, uncensored media, and, perhaps most importantly, the freedom to exercise free enterprise in a free market. They all agreed that the government should work for the people and not the people work for the government.

That experiment has resulted in generating more production, more industry, and more wealth than any other cultural and economic phenomenon in the history of the earth. It has also generated more benevolence and humanitarian aid to the rest of the world than any other cultural and economic experiment in history.

Following World War II, it became obvious that no other military power in the world could conquer the United States of America from the outside without mutual mass destruction of their own country. Control of the U.S. could only be achieved through the conquering and altering of the economics of the interior of the individual citizens, as well as the collective nation.

After the 1930s, the experience of the Great Depression gave the European Marxist socialists the chance to declare that the American system of democracy and free enterprise had failed. They predicted that it was only a matter of time until the people of America would reject capitalism and turn to the security and comfort of a collective and centralized system of economics and culture. Politicians, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt, under the mentorship of socialist economist John Maynard Keynes of the UK, began testing the readiness of the American people for more and more dependence on the American government in exchange for more and more regulation and intrusion by the government. A highly surprising number of American citizens began to vote for personal subsidies and government aid in exchange for independence and free enterprise.

Let’s compare the changes that have been offered to today’s citizens in order to expedite the alteration in the economics of the interior of the voting individuals. We will use some of the principles adhered to by the participants of the 1776 experiment compared to concepts marketed to economic and cultural participants today:

 

                     1776                                                                                   TODAY

 If you can alter the economics of the interior by subtly changing the personal belief systems of the constituents, then you can effectively change that nation and its future.

Next Week:  Benevolence

 

Research ideas from Dr. Jackson's new writing project on Cultural Economics)

  

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

  

www.drjameswjackson.com 
 

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

ECONOMICS OF THE INTERIOR Part 8 The Cost of Success

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Every situation or your life includes alternatives. You were faced with many alternatives even today. Alternatives demand choices. You must continually choose the alternative you most highly desire. The cost of the alternative you choose is the value of the next highest alternative that was foregone in the selection process. In other words, the cost is the value of the alternative you could have had but decided to do without.

Principle #6: Success in God’s Economic System Will Cost You Everything You Value More than God

When dealing with the economics of the interior it is imperative that we sit down and count the cost. We would not be considered a worthy construction superintendent if we failed to sit down and figure out the cost demands before we ventured into an important project. It was William Buckley who once said, Idealism is fine, but as idealism approaches realism . . . the cost may become prohibitive.

It is not unusual for some people to consider the cost involved in a choice and then back away from the endeavor. The cost to them seems too prohibitive. Others, however, need only to have someone to come along and help them turn the price tag over so that they can more clearly understand the price/benefit ratio.

The little story is told of the pig and the chicken standing on the curbside watching a great parade go by . . . and it was for such a wonderful cause. The chicken said to the pig, 

I would like to do something to help out these fine folks. Let’s get involved and help them.
What do you have in mind, asked the pig?
Well, I’ll bet they are hungry out there parading around . . . Maybe we could fix them a little breakfast.
You mean like bacon and eggs? grunted the pig.
Sure!
No way . . . For you that would be contribution . . . for me that would be total commitment!

The cost question is a prudent consideration. The choices regarding cost, however, seem to be the very on ramps to the interstate freeway of new opportunities and exciting adventures. The widow realized the oil and flour she gave up were very insignificant in comparison to what happened to them in historic retrospect. But she had to make that decision regarding the cost. The cost to the lad with the loaves and lox was small compared to the twelve basketsful left over, to say nothing of the multiplied amount that fed the 5,000 hungry people! But he was required to make a decision regarding the cost.

When dealing with the economics of the interior, it makes good common sense that economic success will cost you every alternative that is not consistent with the principles prescribed for your everyday life.

• God Has Given
• God is Looking for a People
• God’s Economic System is not Based on Greed
• God Always Repays when you Give . . . but You don’t Give to Get
• God’s Multiplication begins with Your Subtraction
• Success in God’s Economic System will Cost You Everything You Value More than God

Next Week: Why is it so important to spend this much time on Economics of the Interior?

      (Research ideas from Dr. Jackson’s new writing project on Cultural Economics) 

© Dr. James W. Jackson   

Permissions granted by Winston-Crown Publishing House

  

www.drjameswjackson.com  

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com